Liberia re-opens borders

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Following a reduction in the number of Ebola cases being reported recently in Liberia, President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson has announced reopening of the country’s borders.

Ms. Johnson made the announcement on Friday and said the nationwide curfew would also be lifted.

According to her, record shows new infections have dropped to one-tenth of the level witnessed when the virus was at its peak.

Liberia’s borders were closed in 2014, while nationwide curfew was imposed as part of a State of Emergency proclaimed by the government as a radical response to the ravaging disease.

Schools in Liberia had earlier reopened in an effort to bring normalcy back to the country.

Over 9,300 people died since the outbreak of the virus early 2014 in the West African country which had only just come out of a civil war.

Of the West African countries ravaged by the deadly Ebola, Liberia is worst-hit by the outbreak, but has been leading the recovery, with only two confirmed cases in the week leading to February 12. This compares to 74 in Sierra Leone and 52 in Guinea.

The World Health Organisation says the decline has become steady in the last month.

Bruce Aylward, who heads the WHO’s official Ebola response, said data showed the steep decrease in infections had now been levelled off at a rate of around 120 to 150 new cases a week.

Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have pledged to achieve zero Ebola infections within the next two months.

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